Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AH>  I always spoke to Lady as I would to a child, however,
AH>  on the theory that neither dogs nor humans understand
AH>  English well if they have nobody to teach them.  :-)

JB>   Boy, did I have to defend my position once. I
JB>  told a couple that I thought every parent should first
JB>  own a dog.


           Sounds like a fine idea to me!  We had some friends years ago...
both elementary teachers... who couldn't see the similarity, however, when
we pointed out that if we expressed disapproval about something a dog or a
kid was doing we also made it clear what else we'd like them to do instead.
 These people had two dogs but no kids of their own at the time, as did we.
 And we got quite a lot of static from people who didn't approve of putting
toddlers on a leash.  They felt it was undignified to treat human beings
like dogs.  Now, I suppose there may be various reasons for using a
leash... but from our standpoint an important factor was the physical
safety of the animal(s) or person(s) in question.  I don't want my canine
companion(s) dashing impulsively across a busy street to talk to a dog on
the opposite side, and I didn't want my own daughter doing it either.... 
:-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+